When it came, the celebration was surprisingly low-key.

All season long, the Harvard men's lacrosse team had vainly struggled to score 10 goals in a game--not a rare achievement in lacrosse, but one the Crimson just couldn't pull off for 12 straight games. It had become the symbol of Harvard's frustrating season--six times opponents reached double figures, automatically putting the game out of reach for the Crimson.

So it was, with four minutes left in the first half Saturday at the B-School field, Adelphi University's laxmen were making hints of a comeback from a 9-4 deficit, applying pressure at the Crimson end. Suddenly, Harvard defender Brian Edmonds stole the ball, led a fast break downfield and forced the Panthers' Bob Cook to take a penalty to stop the play.

With the man-advantage, Harvard set up quickly in the Adelphi some, and Co-Captain Brendan Meagher passed inside to team scoring leader Rob Hawley, who turned, shot and shattered the jinx. But nothing followed beyond the typical post-goal jubilliation; the players on the sidelines were similarly blast. "Maybe it was too early [in the game]," attackman Peter Follows guessed.

It certainly seemed too easy. They routed Adelphi, 16-10--the game was less close than the score indicated--and climbed within a game of 500 with one game left, next Saturday at Dartmouth.

The hosts answered a Panther goal just 13 seconds into the contest with a six-goal avalanche in the next six minutes. Hawley tied it at the 42 mark and, after a nearly three-minute hiatus, his roommate Steve Bartenfelder put Harvard ahead for good with goals 91 seconds apart.

Take Him to the Hoop

With their defense looking shaky and their goalie, Steve Shelley, even worse, the Panthers unwisely took on the Crimson ball-carriers one-on-one in the Adelphi zone. Crimson attackman Tom Corcoran made the folly of that strategy clear when he carried from near midfield, and despite heavy coverage drilled one from 25 feet to make it 4-1.

Just 15 seconds later Follows pulled a similar play for his ninth goal of the season--and 33 seconds after that, midfielder Will Sollee bounched the sixth tally into the Panther twines.

Adelphi pulled within three in the second quarter, at which time the Crimson's defensive star of the day, goalie Tim Pendergast showed his stuff. Attackman Cook carried the length of the field, slippign through the defense, but the Crimson co-captain made the stop on the Jow shot to keep it at 7-4.

The Panthers tested Pendergast with low shots in later crucial spots with little success--especially when Cook whipped one from 15 feet early in the second half, to no avail. The crowd of 150 gave the senior playing his final home game a deserved round of applause when he left the game with seven minutes left, having allowed seven goals.

Eight other Crimson players pitched in to run up the score in the meantime; 10 scored in the course of the afternoon.

Harvard Coach Bob Scalise showed his typical controlled pleasure as his squad, which started out 1-5 and has since climbed to 6-7. The Crimson played as he had hoped it would at the season's start, he said--maybe even a little better."

THE NOTEBOOK: in other Ivy action Saturday, Brown stumped nine-time defending champion Cornell, 13-7 in Providence, to drop the Big Red into a tie for the title with Pene.